March 13, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth Presents
FOCUS: Ged Quinn
April 22-June 17, 2012

The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents the third FOCUS exhibition of the season, FOCUS: Ged Quinn, organized by Curator Andrea Karnes. Ged Quinn’s paintings combine landscapes in the vein of Claude Lorrain, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Asher B. Durand, with incongruent and often dark fragments of history, mythology, and the artist’s imagination. His panoramic paintings initially seem familiar to most viewers, even identifiable, largely because they are based on well-known works from the past. Quinn, however, quickly departs from his source material, increasing the scale and adding new elements, using the original work as a springboard. "My aim is merely to give a visual impression of the painterly language [of Claude Lorrain, for example] as shorthand for something else," Quinn explains. "I look at the original artistic statement or conceptual quality to find a space to develop my own ideas further."

Quinn’s works are both strange and awe-inspiring in their combination of painterly skills and provocative conceptual strains. Unpacking his narratives is always tempting, but finding a clear storyline is ultimately denied, in that each work contains numerous nonlinear references. “There are circulations, juxtapositions, and layering that allow space for narratives both to develop and disappear,” Quinn has said, “there is always play between the signifiers that allow for the satisfaction of readings, but at the same time, they undercut the somewhat false satisfaction of ‘explanation’.” In Quinn’s work, sublime backgrounds frequently meet dilapidated foregrounds, and at all turns utopian ideals are acknowledged and critiqued.

Ged Quinn (b. 1963 in Liverpool, England) lives and works in Cornwall, England. His work has been included in numerous solo exhibitions, including Somebody’s Coming That Hates Us, Wilkinson Gallery, London, England (2010); The Heavenly Machine, Spike Island, Bristol, England (2005); and Utopia Dystopia, Tate St. Ives, Cornwall, England (2004). Notable past group exhibitions include The Witching Hour, Water Hall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Leverkusen, Germany (2010); Lust for Life and Dance of Death, Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (2010); Newspeak: British Art Now, Saatchi Gallery, London, England (2010), and State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersberg, Russia (2009-10); Made Up, Liverpool Biennale, Tate Liverpool, England (2008); Collezionami 2, Biennale of Southern Italy, Bari, Puglia (2006); and The Real Ideal, Millenium Galleries, Sheffield, England (2005).

The FOCUS series is organized by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Curator Andrea Karnes for the Museum’s Director’s Council, a group that supports acquisitions at the Museum. Each FOCUS exhibition presents work by an emerging contemporary artist. FOCUS exhibitions are open to the public and are included in general Museum admission: $10 for adults; $4 for seniors (60+) and students with identification; free for children 12 and under; free for Modern members.

The Director’s Council
The Director’s Council was formed in 1985, and assists the Museum with acquisitions through the FOCUS series. The series features three solo exhibitions organized annually by Curator Andrea Karnes. Each exhibition opens with an exclusive cocktail reception for Council members, an opportunity to meet the featured artist and discuss his or her work. One work by each artist is chosen by the Museum to be part of the final selection for the Council’s Purchase Meeting. This format provides members with an in-depth understanding of the Modern’s acquisitions process and offers a spirited and popular series of events. The annual dues, $525, include all the benefits of a Family membership and invitations to exclusive Director’s Council events.

Alcon is a proud to supporter of the Modern and the FOCUS series.

LOCATION
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
3200 Darnell Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107
Telephone 817.738.9215
Toll-Free 1.866.824.5566
Fax 817.735.1161
www.themodern.org

Museum Gallery Hours
Tue 10 am–7 pm (Feb-Apr, Sep-Nov)
Wed-Sun 10 am–5 pm
Fri 10 am–8 pm

General Admission Prices (includes special exhibition)
$4 for students with ID and seniors (60+)
$10 for adults ($13+)
Free for children 12 and under
Free for Modern members
Free every Wednesday and the first Sunday of every month

CAFÉ MODERN
Lunch
Tue-Fri 11 am-2:30 pm
Brunch
Sat-Sun10 am-3 pm
Dinner
Fri 5-10 pm
Coffee, snacks, and dessert
10 am-4:30 pm

The Museum is closed Monday and holidays including New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas.